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Case File 5 Rafael Perez
Rafael Antonio "Ray" Pérez Rafael Antonio Ray Perez (born 1967), is a former Los Angeles Police Department CRASH officer and the central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal. He was involved in the coverup of a $722,000 bank robbery, shot and framed Javier Ovando and stole and resold at least $800,000 of cocaine from LAPD ''evidence lockers. He is accused of being a member of the ''Bloods ''a notorious Los Angeles gang, and murdering rapper ''The Notorious B.I.G. at the behest of Suge Knight ''of Death Row Records. When Pérez was finally arrested, he implicated 70 other Rampart Division officers in various forms of misconduct, ranging from bad shootings to consuming alcohol while on duty. At least 106 ''LAPD ''arrests were overturned based on Pérez's testimony. Early years Rafael Antonio Pérez was born in ''Puerto Rico ''in 1967 and moved to the United States early in his childhood. After moving to several locations, he would eventually be raised by his mother in ''Philadelphia. According to his lawyer, Winston Kevin McKesson, Pérez "remembers standing on a street corner as a child, watching drug dealers and dreaming of one day being the cop to arrest them." Pérez graduated high school in 1985 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps (USMC). He was hired by the LAPD after leaving the'' Marine Corps in 1989. Career After serving on routine patrol duties, Pérez was transferred to a narcotics unit in 1992. In 1995 he was transferred to ''Rampart Division ''and assigned to ''CRASH an anti-gang unit given a long leash by the'' LAPD''. Pérez gained a reputation as a tough and effective officer, valued for his fluency in Spanish and his knowledge of L.A.'s gangs. Pérez and his partner Nino Durden famously shot and framed an unarmed gang member Javier Ovando. ''Ovando'', who was left paralyzed, was sentenced to 23 years in prison based on the officers' false testimony. On August 25, 1998, Pérez, then at age 31 and a nine-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department was arrested for stealing six pounds of cocaine from a department property room. (The theft was originally suspected to be an attempt at framing Frank Lyga in retaliation for the shooting of Pérez's friend Kevin Gaines.) The cocaine was estimated to be worth $800,000 on the street. Criminal charges January 2000 In February 2000, Pérez was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing 8 pounds of cocaine from an LAPD '' evidence locker. At his sentencing, Pérez read a statement in which he said "I cheated on my wife. I cheated on my employer, and I cheated on all of you, the people of Los Angeles''". July 24, 2001 release On July 24, 2001, Pérez was released from prison and placed on parole. December 17, 2001 – federal charges Pérez pled guilty to new charges resulting from the shooting of Javier Ovando. He was charged with conspiracy to violate Ovando's civil rights, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number He went on to serve 5 years in'' federal prison. '' October 31, 2006 felony count On October 31, 2006, Pérez pleaded no contest to a felony count of perjury before the Torrance Superior Court. Pérez, who legally changed his name to Ray Lopez, was arrested in July by Department of Motor Vehicles. investigators while visiting his federal parole ''officer in ''Inglewood. Pérez pleaded no contest to lying in his application for a'' California ''driver's license on June 30, 2005. Pérez was sentenced to an additional three years probation and 300 hours of community service.